“Yes.We could find someone to do the research.Newspaper articles, interviews with…” She paused.“I don’t know the whole history, but you have cousins and there was originally more land?”
“You’ve made me curious about my own heritage,” he admitted.“When Phillip Sykes died—”
“Your?”
“Great-grandfather,” he supplied.“The land was divided between his children.I don’t know if it was equally or not.But my grandfather and Miss Libby inherited the portion with the house.”
“Which you now own?”
It took him a while to answer.“Yes.”
Cade was quiet for so long that she wasn’t sure if he was going to say anything further.Eventually he continued, “After my father died, the Colonel moved forward with sorting out the land situation.Connor and Nathan control most of it, and it’s tied up in the corporation.”
He stopped less than a minute later in front of a red-painted barn.It was an enormous wooden structure.Cade exited the ATV, and she gathered her phone, clipboard and tablet.She and Loopy waited near him while he slid one of the massive doors open.
The interior immediately captured her imagination.
The floor was concrete and a huge loft was perched at the far end of the open space.The metal roof was corrugated and she heard occasional raindrops spattering against it, adding to the ambience.Possibilities for its use crowded through her mind, each idea quickly chasing away the previous one.“This really has some potential, Cade,” she admitted.
“I understand the Colonel and Miss Libby hosted some events here.”
“You mean your grandparents?”
“Yes.Years ago, before my father and I used to work on cars out here.”
“What kind?”
“Race cars, mostly.A couple of collectibles.”He adjusted his hat.“It was a long time ago.”
“Where are they now?”
“Gone.”His tone was gruff, letting her know he wasn’t inviting any further conversation.
She nodded.
“We’ve done yearly maintenance on the barn, to keep nature at bay.But it would need some improvement.”
“Do you have the dimensions?”
“I can get them for you.”
She wandered around.“Mind if I take some pictures?”she asked, glancing back at him.
He was resting a shoulder against a post, watching her, his eyes partially hidden by his straw hat.“Feel free,” he replied.
After wandering around for bit, Loopy went back outside, so Sofia felt comfortable putting her clipboard on the floor while she used her tablet to shoot a few pictures.“You know, a few windows in here would be incredible.”
“Are you remodeling the place already?”
Sofia glanced over at him.“It’s not a bad idea.You could turn this into a rental, if you wanted, make it a place for church gatherings, weddings, meetings.It could produce income, rather than sitting here empty.”
“I actually have a meeting set up with Nathan to discuss utilizing the ranch more.”
“You ought to consider it.There are plenty of civic groups in Waltham, and there aren’t a lot of places like this in the county.I can tell you that not all brides want to go to Corpus Christi or San Antonio to host a big event.You know…” Her thoughts tumbled.“I’m sorry.I’m getting ahead of myself.I’m here to discuss your event.”
“I’m interested.Go on.”
“You could do a bed-and-breakfast option.Brides could stay overnight.Or the honeymoon couple.Corporate retreats.”
